Revenue in the fourth quarter a year earlier totaled $703 million, on the strength of higher prices.

For the year, the company reported revenues of $2.4 billion and a net loss of $1.1 billion including impairment and restructuring charges of $1.1 billion, it said in a prepared statement. Excluding these

"Walter Energy made solid operational progress during 2012, in the face of challenging market conditions," CEO Walter Scheller said in a prepared statement. "In the fourth quarter, we responded to the lower pricing and demand environment by executing the strategy announced last quarter to reconfigure our Canadian operations in order to lower production and reduce costs. Further, we reduced spending at the Aberpergwm mine in the United Kingdom."

The company today also said that a move by investors Audley Capital LLC to place five new directors on the board is "disruptive." Audley, which owns 21,000 shares, has argued that the board should be shaken up following Walter's failure to meet earnings expectations.